The Martians

The Martians, sometimes called "the Yip-Yips", are interplanetary visitors, presumed to be from the planet Mars, who are terrified by things like clocks, telephones and computers on Sesame Street. They rarely come face-to-face with other characters on the show.

In their skits, these creatures, with squid-like tentacles, large eyes, and antennae, materialize into a room and converse with each other in their native tongue: "Yip-yip-yip-yip... Uh-huh. Uh-huh," done in monotone voices. They often come across common objects and, curious as to their names and functions, the Martians will consult a book presumably containing information about things on Earth. In one skit, for example, the Martians call a computer a television and a typewriter before deciding what it actually is.

Contents

Skits

The Martians discover a grandfather clock and wonder if it's an Earth person. They consult their book, which says a person is tall, has a face, and has hands. The clock fits the description perfectly. But then the grandfather clock begins chiming the hour, frightening the Martians.

The Martians discover a telephone. They say hello to it, and then try mooing, meowing, and clucking at it. None of these bring any response. Then the phone begins to ring. The Martians, thinking it's talking, start making ringing noises back.

Ernie wakes up and tells Bert it's time to get up, but notices that Bert isn't in his bed. He slowly ponders what happened to his best friend, coming to the conclusion that maybe some Martians took him away in their spaceship. As it turns out, Bert just got up early to fix some oatmeal. Ernie is relieved... until a real spaceship lands and the Martians enter the room.

Old MacDonald tells Kermit that a spaceship has landed on his farm. A dog runs in, with a frisbee in its mouth, and MacDonald says that it's the spaceship. Kermit sets him straight. But before long, a real spaceship lands on the farm, and out of it come the Martians. The scene ends in chaos.

The Martians (addressed as Stevie and Jonathan Martian) are the contestants on one of Guy Smiley's game shows. They need to bring him something that involves light (such as a flashlight, a lamp, and the moon, which they have to quickly zoom back into space to get). Their jackpot prize is a pot of lightning bugs.

Bert is trying to read his book when Ernie starts singing a song about addition. As Ernie sings, he's joined by Cookie Monster and Grover, some cows, an elephant, and a Martian. At the end of the song, Ernie leaves Bert with a room full of singing monsters and animals.

Merchandising

Around the time of the 35th Anniversary of the program, licensees finally started to notice and recall the characters. In the latter half of 2003, retail outlet Hot Topic led the way with the first-known official Yip Yip merchandising, a "vintage"-looking t-shirt with two Martians (pictured).

In 2011, the Martians were featured on iYip, a soundboard iPhone app in which the Martians recite random phrases and statements. (Martin P. Robinson and Matt Vogel provided the Martians' voices for the app.)